


stripped down to our skeletons again

by citadelofswords



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Found Family, Friendship/Love, Multi, Pre-OT3, closer to a 3+1 but that isn't an established tag, there's a war going on and no one is being honest, this could honestly go either way but was written romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-20
Updated: 2016-01-20
Packaged: 2018-05-15 04:32:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5771452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/citadelofswords/pseuds/citadelofswords
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Three conversations two of them had while piloting, and one conversation where all three of them decide to stop waiting.</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	stripped down to our skeletons again

**Author's Note:**

> written for a prompt on tumblr, finn/rey/poe + things you said while you were driving. It was originally going to just be the first scene, but I really really wanted to write the Lando scene and so it spiraled out of control a little bit? Whoops.
> 
> Honestly, I don't know what happened. It's totally unedited.
> 
> Title from Twin Skeleton's.

_one_.

 

Finn cracks open one eye from where he’s fallen asleep in the cockpit to hear his two pilots murmuring to each other as they fly. They’re flying the Falcon to Bespin to meet an old friend of General Solo’s from his early smuggling days, which he knows Rey is justifiably nervous about as Chewie had refused to copilot, citing bad memories of their last visit. So instead it’s Poe seated next to Rey.

Poe says something about Luke Skywalker. Finn strains to hear.

“He’s a little eccentric,” Rey replies. “I think he’s been talking to the ghost of Ben Kenobi for too long.”

“Ben Kenobi, Jedi Master and hero of the Clone Wars?”

“I spoke to him,” Rey says. “He’s a batty old man who did his fair share of rebelling in his Padawan days and loved Anakin Skywalker a little too much. Remind you of anyone?”

Poe chuckles. They’re silent.

“Master Skywalker knew my parents,” Rey says quietly. “He hasn’t told me that he did, but I know. They weren’t going to ever come back for me on Jakku.”

“I’m sorry, Rey,” Poe says. “Are you okay?”

“I think I knew a long time ago,” Rey says. “I feel a draw to Master Skywalker and General Organa more than anyone I ever felt drawn to, more even than you two. But I have nothing on Jakku anymore. Especially since you picked up my things.”

Finn recalls the day Poe inexplicably vanished for a standard week, only to reappear badly sunburned and with a sack full of old odds and ends. Rey, however, had gasped and reverently picked up the doll that looked much like an old Rebel pilot.

“I can’t believe you did this,” she’d whispered. “Thank you.”

“Anything,” Poe had murmured, and smiled softly at her, with none of his usual charm and all kinds of sweet warmth, and Finn had felt warmth spread in his chest.

Now, Poe shifts in the copilot seat. “It was nothing, really, Rey.”

“Jakku was never home,” Rey says. “Those things, that AT-AT, were the closest things to normalcy that I had. Home is here. With you two.”

Finn tries hard not to smile and quickly shuts his eyes, feigning sleep, as Poe glances back at him in the passenger chair.

“I’m glad, Rey,” Poe says quietly. “What did you mean by a draw?”

“I can’t explain it,” Rey says. “I can usually only sense people who have the Force. Do you have the Force? Does Finn?”

“We tried, but we don’t,” Poe says. “That draw you’re feeling is something else entirely, I think.”

The cockpit starts beeping and Finn fakes a sleepy groan. “We’re here,” Rey says, all business again. “Let’s get this part over with.”

 

 _int_.

 

Lando Calrissian is an old man with an intimidating face and a curling mustache who greets them with a warm smile when they climb from the cockpit.

“Where’s the pilot of this old hunk of junk?” he asks cheerily, and Finn’s stomach lurches as he realizes that this man doesn’t know yet.

“That’s me,” Rey says, and Lando looks at her.

“Han didn’t come?” he asks, and Rey’s face twists. Poe steps towards her and takes her hand, and Lando’s smile crumples away.

“Oh, no,” Lando says.

“He's dead,” Poe says quietly. “In the destruction of Starkiller Base. He— Ren killed him.”

Lando shook his head. “Could never have escaped it,” he said. “The good fight, I mean. Those twins changed him too much. I always knew he’d go back to it eventually.” A young woman with curly hair stepped to his side and laid a hand on his arm. Lando brushed away tears and said, “Just wish the last conversation we’d ever had hadn’t been an argument.”

“I’m sorry,” Rey whispers, and Lando holds out an arm.

“Me too, kid,” he says. “You three are welcome here. I expect you have something for me from the General?”

 

 _two_.

 

Their next mission Chewie does come on, as does Calrissian’s daughter, who banters back and forth easily with Poe while she carefully braids Rey’s hair. Rey’s grateful someone else knows how to speak Wookie aboard the ship, since it means she doesn’t have to be around every time Chewie is.

After a stint in the fresher Rey towels her hair dry and approaches the cockpit, only to hear Finn and Poe murmuring quietly to each other.

“You brought me back BB-8,” Poe is saying. “He’s been with me through everything.”

“Us too,” Finn murmurs back. “I just don’t think I understand—,”

“You brought me back more than my droid, Finn,” Poe says. “Jess, Snap, the other pilots, they’re all my friends, but the closest thing I had to family was BB. Then you and Rey came. And I admit when you busted me out, I didn’t expect us to end up here. But here you are, and here’s Rey too.”

Rey steps back out of the archway, into the shadows, and controls her breathing.

“You’re my family, Finn,” Poe says. “You and Rey both. If anything happens to either of you, I want you to know that I won’t stop looking until I find you, even if I have to disobey General Organa herself.”

Rey looks up at the ceiling of the Falcon and tries very hard not to cry. Her first thought is, _finally_.

 

 _int_.

 

“Rey!” Calrissian calls, ducking underneath the gunfire. “Rey, we have to go!”

“Not without Finn and Poe we’re not,” Rey growled. “I’m not leaving them behind.”

“Finn’s already on board, Rey, come on,” Calrissian gasps, and tugs hard on Rey’s arm. Starfighter squadron is starting to pour in from above, raining fire down on the troopers, and Rey reflects two more blaster bolts and fires several of her own as she and Calrissian run back to the ship.

When she climbs on board, however, Finn is alone. “Where’s Poe?” he demands.

“I thought he was with you!” Rey gasps.

“I thought he was with Chewie— Where’s Chewie?” Finn asks.

“No!” Calrissian yelps, grabbing Rey’s arm as she makes to bolt back out into the chaos. “We got what we came for. Chewie’s got that crossbow, they’ll be fine, someone will pick them up, let’s go, let’s go!”

“Fine!” Rey says, and storms to the console. “But if we lose either of them because we left, Calrissian, I’ll scatter your atoms so far your father won’t be able to find you again.”

The Falcon rises. (Chewie watches it fly, and hopes to the memory of Han Solo they found Dameron before they took off.)

 

 _three_.

 

Two standard months later and not only is there no sign of Poe Dameron, but the First Order also seems to be eluding the entire Resistance, choosing instead to bide their time and slip out of their grasp every time Rey even comes close to stumbling onto a TIE fighter.

“Bantha _shit_!” she cries, the third time a Star Destroyer jumps to lightspeed right in front of her. Luke, sitting in the copilot’s seat, leans forward.

“You’ll find him, Rey,” he says, and Rey turns to him.

“I failed him,” she says, and feels her stupid tears welling in her eyes. “I failed him and now he’s going to die because I let Calrissian take me off planet.”

“He’s not going to die and it isn’t your fault, Rey, there was nothing you could have done,” Luke tells her gently.

“He and Finn are the only family I’ve got left, Master Skywalker,” she whispers. “I can’t lose him, I can’t.”

“You’re afraid,” Luke says. “It’s alright to be afraid, Rey, it will help you.”

“Master Kenobi says fear is the path to the dark side,” Rey says hesitantly, and Luke laughs.

“Fear is only the path to the dark side if you let it,” Luke says. “I have been afraid ever since I started running from Leia and Han, and yet here we are.” He tips his head back to stare at the ceiling. “The Jedi Code can always be rewritten, anyway,” he murmurs.

“Rey?” Finn appears in the archway and Luke rests his hand atop Rey’s head before standing.

“You’ll find him, my girl,” Luke says, and his hand rests against Rey’s cheek fleetingly. Her eyes close. Then, he takes a step back. “Trust your instincts.”

Finn watches him go, then takes his place. “Lost the Destroyer again?” he asks. Rey feels the overwhelming feel of failure again.

“I’m sorry, Finn,” she says, shaking her head. “I can’t—,”

“Hey,” Finn says, and leans forward to take her hand. “It’s okay, Rey. We’ll find him. We will, we promised each other, didn’t we, that we’d never stop looking?”

“You promised,” Rey chokes out. “I never did.”

They’re silent.

“Have you tried sensing him?” Finn asks, and Rey looks up.

“How did you know I can sense you both?”

Finn shrugs. “I pretend to sleep a lot,” he says, and Rey punches him. “Ow! Sorry, I don’t mean to, I just wake up at weird times. But if anyone can find him, Rey, it’s you.”

Rey looks out into the sky. “I hadn’t tried yet,” she says, and closes her eyes.

She reaches out.

Without even knowing why, she snaps two switches on the console, and then punches the button to change the coordinates.

“I found him,” she whispers, and Finn kisses her on the temple. “We’re going to talk about this, Finn, but not now.”

“Now, we get our pilot back,” he says, and she grins.

 

+ _one_

 

Poe is covered in laser burns and scratches from whatever torture they put him through, and his ankle is twisted at an awkward ankle that makes him yelp with pain when he puts weight on it, but when Rey bursts into his cell under a stormtrooper’s helmet he smiles so wide she almost tackles him into a hug then and there.

Instead, they flee the First Order base under a hail of heavy gunfire mostly unscathed, with Luke and BB-8 watching over Poe in the back and Finn gunning down ten TIE fighters near in a row. Rey makes sure their coordinates are set back to D’Qar before standing to move to the rear— only to almost run right into Poe, who has his arm slung around Finn’s shoulder and a smirk on his face.

Rey tries to steel her features. “Dameron,” she says, and Poe rolls his eyes and extends his other arm to her.

She ends up draped across Poe on the pilot’s seat; his arm snakes around her waist and both his and her feet are up in Finn’s lap. Poe has no shoes on, but it doesn’t seem to bother Finn much.

“Two months,” Rey whispers.

“I’m lucky to be alive, yeah,” Poe says. “They were hoping you’d come after me.”

"Two months," Rey repeats, and shakes her head. "You could have been dead, Dameron, and we never would have—,"

"Hey, I'm here now," Poe says, and taps her nose with his index finger. "We just won't stall anymore, yeah?" He glances at Finn, who nods once.

“I’m sorry we took so long,” Rey says, and Poe shakes his head.

“I’m alright, Rey, really,” he says, and looks at Finn.

“General Organa had to go over everyone’s heads to get us any information they had,” Finn says. “Didn’t hurt that she’s listed as your next of kin.”

“That was a joke I pulled when I enlisted,” Poe chuckles. “My mum talked about her so much that I figured I’d just include her.”

“Well, I’m glad you have a sense of humor,” Finn says, “since it was pretty much the only way we found anything out.”

They’re silent for a while. Rey tightens her arms around his neck. Finn’s hand rests on her ankles, brushing Poe’s leg.

Poe suddenly looks at her, confused.

“I listed you two as my next of kin three months ago,” he says, and Finn sits straight up. “They really wouldn’t tell you anything?”

**Author's Note:**

> [Pretty much I'm always taking prompts, but if you want to just say hi feel free!](http://citadelofswords.tumblr.com/ask)


End file.
